I need more feedback...

...on this game [1] I'm working on. I spent some time pimping the graphics with blender, and the result was amazing. I didn't imagine it would be that good when I started. Ok, it's not like it's going to be the next blockbuster, but the difference from the earlier version is remarkable.

In case you wonder, yes, the sand tiles were also made in blender. I used its procedural textures for this. I had to postprocess them a bit with GIMP to make them seamless, though (I don't know if this can be done in blender).

I want to add stuff to the gameplay now. The original game has colored monsters that you can only beat by picking up a weapon of the same color before confronting them. I'm thinking of putting bodyguards (hired by the girl) instead of monsters, and candies (bodyguards love candies) instead of weapons. But I want to add new gameplay elements too. I already have two, the you - must - collect - all - the - hearts - to - open - the - gate - to - the - girl concept, and teleporters. But I want something drastically different, as in allowing the player to somehow interact with the game after the character starts moving (in the original game, all you can do is set up the map, hit the 'GO' button and then wait). I'm thinking of adding something like soul reaver's [2] realm shifting. Of course, I won't call it 'realm shifting'. I'll call it 'horny mode' or something. You'll be able to use it for a limited duration of time on each level, and, while it's activated, you'll be able to break through switch controled gates, jump over sand traps, etc...

I have to admit that I haven't tried the game yet, as I am on my iPod and have to go to bed soon, but from what I read about the game, I have a bit of feedback. I think the idea of the colored monsters is nice, and changing them to bodyguards would probably make it more like all the other games on the market. Also, as a side question, how ling have you been studying c plus plus? I've started only recently and was wondering how long it takes to learn enough to produce something half decent.

You don't really need much C++ knowledge or experience to start making little games like this one. Reading the tutorial on this site and familiarizing yourself with some very useful components of the standard library (e.g. string, deque, map, etc...) should be enough to get you started. Note that in order to load images from files and draw them on screen, you'll need a third-party library like SFML or SDL or Allegro (I use SFML for this).

The hard part is not writing the code that gives life to your images. The hard part is creating the images themselves. The programs I used to make the artwork for this are GIMP, Inkscape and Blender. It's a very good idea to spend some time playing with them, as they can be very useful tools once you learn how they work. A good place to start is this blog -> [1]. It's something like a game-oriented Inkscape tutorial. That's where I started too. But, after a while, you'll realize that there is a better way to create 2D graphics -> [2] (note that this technique was also used to generate the graphics in the popular Donkey Kong Country series for SNES [3] and Blizzard's original StarCraft [4]). Then, you'll start using Blender (for which you can find hundreds of online tutorials) as the main creation tool and the other two as postprocessing assistants.

Good luck on your game programming journey and thanks for the feedback! :)

Thanks fOr your help. I use allegro right now andfor graphic making I was thinking if using a program called
Jasc Paint shop pro. It is a bit complicated to start off with, but has really many tools and is very useful. Thanks again for all the advice, and I apologize for any weird autocorrects :)

I'm not going to lie, it's a little derogatory but then again I'm American so chalk that up to cultural differences. Other then that it looks great! The dancing palm trees and pyramids give it a Mario Brothers 3 feel and that's very nostalgic. You've done a great job with the graphics, far better then I've ever accomplished. I've played games with this mechanic before and they can be pretty good.

If you don't mind me asking, is this that same girl? Hasn't she said yes yet? What's her hold up?

Other then that it looks great! The dancing palm trees and pyramids give it a Mario Brothers 3 feel and that's very nostalgic. You've done a great job with the graphics, far better then I've ever accomplished.

Glad you liked it! :D

Computergeek01 wrote:

is this that same girl?

Yes.

Computergeek01 wrote:

Hasn't she said yes yet?

No. And I have no idea why. I've tried several things to lure her into a date, and some of them seemed to get very close, but, in the end, nothing worked. I plan to publish this on Android (and if this goes well, on iPhone too) when I finish it, partly to send her a 'Give up on me giving up!' (as the famous leaf village hero would say) message.

I have no idea why she wouldn't say yes, but I'm guessing the word "clingy" (or maybe "creepy") is involved (as well as what computerquip said). Although I don't know what country you're in (I think I did know but I can't remember; I seem to remember eastern Europe though) or what the norm is there, but I'd hazard a guess that this kind of thing isn't it. That's not to say the game isn't impressive and doesn't have its merits, just that if its aim was to impress a girl, I can't see it accomplishing that aim (at least, not in my culture - like I said, I most likely don't know yours).